


A Solstice Wish

by ButterfliesAndPenguins



Series: Siegfried/Aglovale One-Shots [5]
Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: A peek at the way too elaborate headcanons I have for Siegfried's backstory, Kissing, M/M, Mistletoe, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Secret Relationship, Winter Solstice, a bit of Sigurd's Volsung lore, also they kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22074718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButterfliesAndPenguins/pseuds/ButterfliesAndPenguins
Summary: Siegfried attends the Midwinter festival in Wales and Aglovale introduces him to their traditions, including mistletoe...
Relationships: Aglovale/Siegfried (Granblue Fantasy)
Series: Siegfried/Aglovale One-Shots [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1398757
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	A Solstice Wish

“WASSAIL, WASSAIL! Drink fer a penny, sir?”

A group of eager children, well-pressed clothes now wrinkled with their excitement, was crossing the crowded celebration hall of Wales castle, decorated splendidly for Midwinter festivities. They all gathered before Siegfried and offered him a huge wooden goblet. A sweet, spiced smell was steaming from the drink inside.

“What’s this?” Siegfried asked curiously.

“Wassail, o’ course!” the children chorused unhelpfully.

Beside him, Aglovale chuckled and explained. “They’re urchin carolers, it’s tradition to partake and impart a gift of food or coin in return. They wish to bring you good health for the new year.”

“Ah, I see! In that case,” Siegfried received the wide cup, practically a bowl, and took a careful sip. It was delicious, and from the tingling warmth that it sent all the way through him right down to his toes, Siegfried suspected it was lightly enchanted. 

“Good health to ya, sir knight!”

“Have you none for a king as well?” Aglovale teased them, looming by Siegfried’s shoulder in his imposing stature even in his satin dressclothes. 

“Y—Yes, yer highness!” They each bowed awkwardly, shuffling forward to offer the goblet as Aglovale stooped to drink. 

“An even finer batch than last year, the harvest must have been excellent.” He nodded proudly. “Well, will we not have a song? The blessing will be incomplete without it, and you ought to earn your coin.”

“Yes, yer majesty!” Their leader bowed and turned to the group. “Ahem—” 

The children nervously sang their wassail carol before the king, gaining confidence as Siegfried leaned in eagerly, nodding in encouragement. When they finished, Aglovale clapped generously, and Siegfried joined him.

“Thank you, good sirs and ladies. You do your kingdom a service. Now, what do you say?”  
  
“Good health! Good health, yer highness,” they bowed one by one as Aglovale reached for a small purse and handed them each gold coins with a laugh. He seemed to enjoy indulging the children’s company more than a stranger might have expected of the seemingly cold ruler. Siegfried slipped them the few copper pennies he had as well, patting the last caroler on the head as they left.

“Wassail…” he mused, sitting back on his chair by the enormous fire in the palace hearth. “Reminds me of the mulled mead I used to drink back home during Midwinter.”  
  
“A Feendrache tradition?” Aglovale asked.

“Ah, No… Though I did live there, my people had separate customs and lives of their own.”

The king inclined his head curiously. “Your people?”

“Yes. We were often called Vols… the name of my family’s clan was the Volsung. We were something of a nomadic culture, one might say. Or at least… I always ended up a wanderer when I was young,” Siegfried’s smile was strained.

“You’ve never told me much of your family,” Aglovale remarked gently, taking care in his tone to respect the knight’s privacy.

“Hm,” Siegfried looked into the distance distractedly. “Mine was far from a noble upbringing. I don’t have much from before I became a knight to be proud of, quite honestly. I don’t miss the life was trapped in there… but I do miss some of the people. The handful who were each kind enough to raise me, piece by piece.”

Aglovale was gazing at him, eyes reflecting the blazing hearth. He looked as if he were trying to decipher a puzzle, stitching together the perceptions he had to understand the man before him. Siegfried’s instinct was to retreat, for fear the wrong conclusions might be drawn about the kind of man he was. But before he changed the subject, he paused, allowing himself the risk this time with the one man he wanted to trust more than anyone in the world.

“We never had much, but we did feast at Midwinter.” Siegfried smiled, memories flickering forth like dusty candles being lit after so many years. “Traditions, charms, prophecies… those were very important to us. Especially those whose lives depended on a good harvest. We lived on the outskirts of the country. Sometimes I still find myself catching up on Feendrache kingdom customs even after being at court all these years.” He laughed lightly.

Aglovale smiled fondly. “Before we met, Percival always spoke of you as an odd man, someone with your own ways about you. But I think he admired you for it. I know I can’t help but do the same.” He touched Seigfried’s shoulder gently.

Siegfried fell quiet and thoughtful, watching the festivities around them. The children continued scampering from noble to noble, offering their wassail and songs, and the dancing and music carried on in the court nearby. Aglovale thrived here in this atmosphere, while Siegfried enjoyed it in small doses, feeling the pull to retreat long before the merriment finally quieted down. And yet even the king had confided in him a similar hunger for quiet company in moments like this.

“Come,” Aglovale extended his hand with a beguiling smile, inclining his head to invite him to follow. “I have another Wales tradition I wish to share with you.”

Siegfried allowed the hand to lift him from his seat and lead him through the wreaths of candles and ribbons, past the rows of festive members of court and citizens alike. Aglovale turned on his heel and drew him behind a corner of holly and evergreen branches, shrouded from the view of the party beyond them. He was backed up against the stone wall as the king smiled triumphantly. Siegfried glanced about at his surroundings until his suspicions were confirmed as he looked upward, noticing the bouquets of green teardrop leaves and white berries strung plentifully above them.

“Mistletoe,” Siegfried remarked incredulously, unable to hide a smirk. “Pray, tell me about this custom of yours, my lord.”

Aglovale loomed in closer, letting his hand stray along the stone beside him, casually closing off Siegfried’s escape. “It is tradition in Wales to hang both mistletoe and holly at Midwinter, signs of the evergreen.”

“Ah,” Siegfried stalled playfully. “You know, In our Vols tradition, mistletoe is a symbol of the sadness of a long-forgotten Primal… the tears of Frigga, they call it.”

Aglovale raised his eyebrows. “Sounds like a rather gloomy tradition.” The king was pressed in, hovering inches from him now. “Ours is a bit more… pleasant.”

Siegfried smiled. “So I’ve heard.” He reached behind Aglovale’s neck and pulled him in to close the remaining distance.

Siegfried’s lips sealed the king’s lightly, but swiftly. Oh, how their lips fit together perfectly. _Do you know, Aglovale?_ Siegfried thought, _how they fit so perfectly, like hand in hand, like lock and key? Like nocking an arrow in place on a string… made to be connected._

Siegfried was not one to speak poetically, for pretty words hardly came to him and he could certainly never make them leave his tongue if they did, but in this moment he wished these wild thoughts would seep through in his kiss. 

Aglovale’s kisses were always decadent—rich as the elegant food at his banquet tables that were filled with complex flavors Siegfried’s palate could hardly name. Their slowness was overwhelming and yet filled to the brim with intention. Siegfried knew instinctively not to hasten them, to hold back his urge to overtake him, but he could not help pressing further in like a man tipping over a ledge. His lifted his weight slightly onto his toes, face rising ever so slightly higher than the plane of Aglovale’s lips. Aglovale hummed gently, almost inaudibly, as his let his chin tilt upward into the swell of Siegfried’s kiss, winding one arm around his waist gripping gently at his tunic, holding on as if to ride out the wave.

Siegfried’s rough fingers glided tenderly over Aglovale’s cheek and he gasped faintly. Rare were the moments where the king’s proud composure slipped, and Siegfried treasured the sound, feeling his affection burn brighter to know Aglovale rested his guard with him more than he likely meant to. Siegfried let his free hand search for Aglovale’s, and when he found it he wove their fingers together firmly, anchoring them to one another as the dizziness of the moment nearly swept them away.

Their kiss faded softly until they were resting foreheads together, letting time hover around them as they lingered behind the shadows of the evergreen boughs and holly.

“Siegfried, I have a New Year’s wish, selfish of me as it may be,” the king whispered.

The knight looked up into the amber eyes, the heavy gold eyelashes casting exaggerated shadows in the candlelight.

“My wish is to be by your side more in the coming year, that you would visit me here in Wales as often as you can spare.” His chin was bowed in guilt, but his voice was still charming, hoping to entice him.

Siegfried laughed gently. “That is one wish I have the power to grant. After all, I cannot be parted from where my own heart lies for long.”

For all his quiet bravado, Aglovale smiled with relief, gazing gratefully back at him. “It would bring me true happiness, however short or long your stays.” He carefully brushed back a strand of Siegfried’s bangs that perhaps wasn’t so out of place to begin with. “What about you, Siegfried? Do you have a wish for the New Year?”

Siegfried thought of the fragile start to their closeness at the beginning of the year, brittle as new ice, and how their trust had slowly grown and blossomed. He thought of the lonely ache that had begun to fill his days away from Wales, and the nervous uncertainty he felt for the future when he was within these walls. There were many things he hoped for that were too soon to turn into wishes. There were dreams he longed for that were too young to take shape, too early to ask for in words. He considered passing off a lighthearted joke or remaining mysterious, but Aglovale had asked honestly, and he felt it was only right to search himself for a genuine answer.

“To be honest… I want to understand myself better. So that I can let others see me more clearly. And so that I can know them more in turn.”

Aglovale blinked, slightly taken aback. “Quite a lofty goal for a Solstice wish. But it seems a worthy one.”

Siegfried laughed, realizing he was already sounding ironically cryptic by explaining it. “My wish then, I suppose‚ is… closeness.” He pressed in, brushing foreheads with Aglovale again and drawing comfort from his presence. “I want to learn to be closer than before.”

Aglovale squeezed his hand. “Then I suppose, in a way, we share a piece of the same wish.”

Siegfried nodded, smiling mysteriously. “I suppose we do.”

Sounds of carols and a wide log splitting loudly on the hearth drew their attention back to the festivities down the hall. 

“Should we return?” Siegfried asked. “They’ll be looking for you, no doubt.”

They looked on, seeing the children scampering in front of the fire and the elders’ laughter, and the merriment of the festivities. Aglovale slipped his arms around Siegfried’s waist from behind and pulled him close as they watched, pressing a kiss to his temple and resting his cheek against his brown hair.  
  
“Let us remain like this for just a little while longer,” Aglovale whispered, holding him tightly.

**Author's Note:**

> I love adapting bits of old Welsh traditions for GBF Wales, and I also love injecting the Norse bits of Sigurd and Volsung legend into GBF Siegfried as much as I can. GBF draws generally from the Nibelungenlied & Germanic legend for their Siegfried, but since there are Norse references within the game (some weapon names, primals like Yggdrasil, etc - Odin & Grani are specifically tied to Sigurd in legend), I like to imagine Siegfried with as much Sigurd in him as possible.
> 
> I have a lot of headcanons for Siegfried's backstory and the nomadic "Volsung" culture he came from, which I really hope to sneak into more of my fic for them as I keep writing. In-game, Siegfried is quite superstitious and has more of a connection to spirits and talismans than the average skydweller, so I've always liked to think he was raised by magic-users with strong connections to the earth and daily, common rituals and small-scale, pagan-like magic.
> 
> I actually have a fic I want to write about their wedding where Siegfried invites Aglovale to where he grew up to have a private marriage ceremony there, according to his traditions, before they have the royal wedding. I really hope to be able to write and post that one day.
> 
> At any rate, Happy New Year, and thank you for reading! This ship is incredibly special to me and has meant more to me than most, I look forward to writing more Sieglovale in 2020! :)


End file.
